India’s all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin, popularly known for his carrom ball, has won the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year 2016, International Cricket Council (ICC) said in a statement today.
Following this R Ashwin has become the third India player after Rahul Dravid (2004) and Sachin Tendulkar (2010) to win this prestigious Sobers Trophy.
The award puts Ashwin in the league of 12 other cricket greats to have won the Sobers Trophy with the previous winners being Andrew Flintoff and Jacques Kallis (joint-winners in 2005), Ricky Ponting (2006 and 2007), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (2008), Mitchell Johnson (2009 and 2014), Jonathan Trott (2011), Kumar Sangakkara (2012), Michael Clarke (2013) and Steve Smith (2015).
Ashwin was also adjudged the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year, which has made him only the second India player after Dravid (2004) to bag the two coveted prizes in the same year, ICC announced today.
Reacting to the news, Ashwin said: “It’s an absolute pleasure to be awarded with this great honour. It feels great to follow the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid in being named as the ICC Cricketer of the Year. To also win the ICC Test Cricketer of the Year makes it even better.
“There are a lot of people to thank for this wonderful achievement I have made. It has been a great couple of years but this year has been even more special. What is very noticeable is the way I have bowled and batted and the way I have gone about doing my business. What is more important, as far as I am concerned, is the number of people who have gone behind my success.
The 30-year-old from Chennai has so far played 44 Test matches in which he took 248 wickets and scored 1816 runs. In ODI’s Ashiwn has scored 658 and claimed 142 wickets at an average of 31.73.
Ashwin also claimed 52 wickets and scored 112 runs in 45 T20Is.
Meanwhile, India’s Test captain Virat Kohli has been named the captain of ICC ODI team of the year.
